Gwen Stefani’s Sons Read a Bible Verse During Her Wedding to Blake Shelton

Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton married on July 3 in Oklahoma, and Stefani made sure that her three sons were a major part of the intimate ceremony. According to the newlyweds’ good friend Carson Daly, who officiated the wedding, Stefani’s sons, Kingston, 15, Zuma, 12 and Apollo, 7, participated in the day by reading a Bible verse.

During Thursday’s episode of Today, Craig Melvin asked, “Did the boys have a part in a ceremony over the weekend?” He replied, “Yeah, they did. Yes.” “They did a reading,” he shared, via Yahoo! News. “Yeah, they split up first Corinthians 13.” A popular Bible verse at weddings, 1 Corinthians 13 reads, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.”

Along with the reading, the boys were present throughout the ceremony thanks to the embroidery on their mom’s veil, which featured their names as well as “Blake” and “Gwen” bordered by two white roses.

Daly had previously provided details on the wedding during the Monday, July 5 episode of Today, sharing that Shelton wrote Stefani a song for his vows. “I went to them months ago and said, ‘I think you guys should write your own vows. We shouldn’t just do the repeat after me,’” The Voice host recalled. “They were really reluctant to do that, but … it’s two of the best songwriters in the world, we want to hear your words.”

“At the wedding, Gwen starts, and she wrote this, ‘Since I was a little girl …’ And she crushes, not a dry eye in the church. … It was so perfect,” he continued. “I said to Blake when she was done, ‘Top that, buddy.’ And Blake starts by saying, ‘Gwen’s always giving me a hard time about not writing enough songs, so I wrote a song.’ Guitar comes in frame, stool, next thing you know, he wrote her a song, he sings her a song while he’s crying that he wrote specifically for her. … Not a dry eye in the house.”

Daly added that the wedding ceremony was “perfectly them.” “It was as elegant and refined and cool as Gwen is, and it was country and down-home and fun as Blake is,” he said. “They just work. They’re an unlikely pair. They’re like if you paired delicious fried chicken with a glass of champagne. On paper, on the menu, it doesn’t seem to work, but it works. They’re comfort food with class, and everybody roots for that.”